salivate

[ sal-uh-veyt ]

/ ˈsæl əˌveɪt /

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See synonyms for: salivate / salivates / salivating on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object), sal·i·vat·ed, sal·i·vat·ing.

to produce saliva.

verb (used with object), sal·i·vat·ed, sal·i·vat·ing.

to produce an excessive secretion of saliva in, as by mercurial poisoning.

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Origin of salivate

1650–60; <Latin salīvātus (past participle of salīvāre to cause to salivate); see saliva, -ate¹

OTHER WORDS FROM salivate

un·sal·i·vat·ed, adjectiveun·sal·i·vat·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use salivate in a sentence

In the weeks leading up to this strange, limited-capacity season of college football, oddsmakers salivated over the prospect of something akin to a control study for home-field advantage.
Home Teams Aren’t Winning As Much In College Football This Season. The Big Ten Should Fit Right In.|Josh Planos|October 21, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
But if you fire up Instagram and follow Rodrigo de la Calle, you might start salivating over such plants-turned-food.
Rodrigo de la Calle Is Spain’s Vegetable Whisperer|Kara Cutruzzula|March 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She even has American pop stars salivating for her symbolic arrival.
Figure Skater Gracie Gold Is America’s Darling in Sochi|Kevin Fixler|February 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Another storage competitor which also has some investors salivating is the snappier-named Box.
Is Dropbox Worth $8 Billion?|William O’Connor|November 19, 2013|DAILY BEAST

But Bush administration neocons, salivating over regime change in Iran, spurned this extraordinary deal.
Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick On How Obama Should Handle the Crisis In Syria|Oliver Stone, Peter Kuznick|October 15, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The mysterious trailer for the sci-fi adventure (which opens on June 8) already has the Internet salivating.
'Prometheus' Interview: Charlize Theron’s Alien Fantasy|Ramin Setoodeh|April 20, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Huxham appears to have adopted the whole Sydenhamian practice of blooding, blistering, purging, and salivating.
A History of Epidemics in Britain, Volume II (of 2)|Charles Creighton
Bindle had christened him Spit-and-Speak owing to Gugger's habit of salivating his words.
Adventures of Bindle|Herbert George Jenkins
At the same time, they counts on salivating the old Injun what fools them a-plenty.
Frank Merriwell's Triumph|Burt L. Standish
May not this accidental impurity explain the occasional salivating effects of prussic acid.
North American Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3, July, 1826|Various

British Dictionary definitions for salivate

salivate

/ (ˈsælɪˌveɪt) /

verb

(intr) to secrete saliva, esp an excessive amount

(tr) to cause (a laboratory animal, etc) to produce saliva, as by the administration of mercury

Derived forms of salivate

salivation, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

salivate

Origin of salivate

OTHER WORDS FROM salivate

Words related to salivate

How to use salivate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for salivate

Derived forms of salivate